The Most Interesting Variable
by THAWLESQ
Summary: When he first arrives on the doorstep of W.I.C.K.E.D. headquarters, the scientists are astonished to find he is not entirely human. With 3 years of only minor progress in the maze, they've become too cautious to not throw in a plan B in case Thomas and Theresa didn't succeed. His advanced physicality might just be the answer to the apocalypse they're so desperate to fix. T in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! Yeah I know I should be working on my other stories, but one of them, I honestly want to completely rewrite, and the other is a bit boring for the moment as nothing is happening. So I decided to do this challenge I wandered across. It's for a RWBY/Maze Runner crossover, posted by Darkus Cyril. If you want to find it and do it yourself it won't be hard at all to find, there's only 2 other RWBY/Maze Runner crossovers so you can't miss it. I'm going to be doing a faunus OC main character for this. Just a heads up, I'm not good at explaining the clothes, since I made them up and don't know what to call certain things. THIS FOLLOWS THE BOOK MOSTLY. Enjoy!**

SOME W.I.C.K.E.D. EMPLOYEE'S POV:

I stared at the monitor and rubbed my eyes, yawning. Today had been long. After Thomas' sprint into the maze, the brain patterns for almost every subject had gone haywire. Now that most had accepted the deaths of the three outside the walls, it was more relaxed back in the headquarters. I wasn't monitoring Thomas or Minho thankfully, the two with those jobs would be up for a long time. I pushed my rolling chair away from the desk and stood up stretching. The room was dim as most of the light came from the screens, and it was obvious that it was now night time. The artificial sun in the glade went down a half hour after the real sun. Leaning over the keyboard once more, I exited control of the beetle blade I had been using, and returned the screen to the main camera assigned. The view now pointed out towards the east door.

After waving goodbye to my few colleagues, I picked up my clipboard of notes and started walking back to my room. The hallways had one fluorescent rod of light on the ceiling every few feet and a small window every twenty. The living quarters were all the way on the other side of the complex from the monitoring rooms, and my feet already hurt.

Looking out one window as I passed the main entrance I spotted a dark lump on the ground in front of the giant doors. Every day I passed this window I looked out, and that lump was never there.  
"Open door two." I told the man who controlled the heavy metal gates.

"What for?" He questioned, before doing so anyways.

I strolled out and put my clipboard on the ground next to me as I knelt over it. The air was cold on my skin as my hand reached towards the object. I gasped when I felt clothes, and after turning it over I realized that it was a boy. Calling to the gate operator to come help me, we dragged him inside to where we could look at him better.

"Go get Chancellor Paige." I told him. He nodded and headed back to the operation desk to close the door again.

"Oh never mind that, hurry!" I snapped. His hand quickly left the control plate and followed the rest of him as he scurried off.

As I waited for him to return with the chancellor, I started to examine the boy. I pulled my long auburn hair back into a ponytail so it wouldn't get in my face and knelt next to him. His skin was the palest I had ever seen on anybody, which contrasted greatly with his jet black hair. It was fairly long and pushed back from his forehead and ears neatly. It clung to his neck, and at first glance could have been mistaken for fur. Two large tufts stood up on top of his head. The longest point just reached the collar of his odd shirt. It wrapped around the base of his neck and came together in the front where it was wrapped around itself. The sleeves were long and loose, getting wider at the forearms. It was black with red designs on it that somewhat resembled fire. He had a belt on that wrapped around his waist twice and held the shirt together, but it had no buckle and looked like it was fuzzy. His pants were black also and went down until they were stuffed inside long combat like boots that went most of the way to his knees. A pocket on the thigh held a silver rod that when examined later was found to have many different parts to it, although no one at W.I.C.K.E.D. could get it to open.

I heard footsteps and stood abruptly when Chancellor Paige appeared with 4 other whitecoats and the door operator in tow.

"Chancellor." I nodded respectfully. She returned the nod before looking down at the boy.

"Take him to the examination chamber. Patch him up if you find any physical injuries, then send him for a brain scan." She said over her shoulder to the 4 doctors, her eyes never leaving the unconscious boy. They ran forward and lifted him onto a gurney and wheeled him away. She turned back to me.

"I know that you have just finished working, but I want you to monitor this new subject." She said to me, her cold eyes staring at me. Of course I had no choice but to nod and follow the doctors down the hall I'd just come from.

When I caught up to them the boy was already in an operation gown and lying face down on a table. However none of the doctors were beginning the tests.

"What is it? Why are you all standing there?" I asked them walking over to see what they were staring at. I gasped when I saw it. The tufts of hair on his head were actually small ears. The fuzzy belt, now unraveled into a long, sleek, black tail that connected to his torso right below the small of his back.

"What is this?" I whispered, with my hand over my mouth.

"The internal image that we're taking now will tell us if this is something he's always had, or got surgically attached." One doctor said.

I nodded slowly. A few minutes later they came back with the picture. It was of a mostly human skeleton, however a long trail of 18 caudal vertebrae exited the spine about three inches above where a human tail bone be. The fingernails were slightly thicker where they connected to the skin, and naturally pointed. The boy's skull was shaped to allow usage of his human ears, and the ones atop his head. The jaw line fitted with larger, sharper canines. His limb structure had more joint areas so so that if he were standing, they would align perfectly to appear on the outside, that of a normal human. However if he crouched on all fours they would shift and re-align so that he could stand like a quadruped also. His muscles were bigger, his bones denser, and most undoubtedly he had better use of his senses.

"His anatomy appears to be the perfect combination of animalistic and human structures. It seems he is predominantly human, however there are also traits commonly shown in large cats. A quick DNA test will tell us what species exactly." A young doctor in his 20s said, swabbing the inside of the boy's cheek. "In the meantime, we'll take a proper brain scan. This would be wonderful variable to throw into play. We haven't considered genetic enhancement of the subjects."

"We shall have to see how he preforms in the trials first. I will inform Chancellor Paige of this intelligence. Send the test results and scans to my computer."

"Yes ma'am." They nodded as I left. I quickly found the chancellor and told of the odd news.

"The information is being sent to the files on my computer as they discover it ma'am." I said handing her some notes I written down.

She flipped through them, and nodded curtly. "Hmm, good. Get some sleep. You will wake early tomorrow to assess this further. As soon as he's cleared I want his memory wiped and him in the elevator into the maze."

I widened my eyes but agreed nonetheless. We separated and I once more headed for my room.

When I got there I kicked off my shoes, slipped my lab coat off and fell into my bed. I was much too tired for anything else today, too much had happened. Tomorrow the most interesting subject of yet was being sent, and I was in charge of recording his patterns.

 **So yeah! This is chapter 1. Or the prologue. Whichever way ya want to look at it. I feel like I went into a bit too much detail with the anatomy and I'm not even sure if everyone understood what I was saying… oh well, I find things like that interesting. Bodies are like self-sustaining machines that are built with exactly the parts necessary to survive as long as possible. Honed over thousands of years with fail safe abilities like super strength and wicked fast speed! YOU CAN EVEN EAT YOURSELF FROM THE INSIDE OUT UNCONCIOUSLY SO YOU WON'T DIE. So cool. Wow I kinda just rambled on, sorry. But yep! Chapter 1! Or prologue. The first part of the story. Yep. See ya in the next one!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! I'll probably be posting 1 & 2 right after one another because that's how I'm writing them. They should be up within a miniscule amount of time anyways. If not, well then I'm sorry. I have a bad habit of procrastinating. In fact, that's why this is a thing! Because I'm making a reason as to why I can't study for finals at the moment. Yup, I'm a piece of shicst. Anyways, enjoy!**

The next morning we examined the boy's brain. It showed moderately high intelligence. He wasn't as smart as some subjects, however he wasn't as simple as others. The perfect middle. Some parts of his brain were larger unlike other humans. Places that control the more primal instincts such as the Hindbrain, and cerebellum specifically. This means that he would probably have excellent balance and movement capabilities. The thalamus, which controlled his senses was also more developed than the average human's. The occipital and temporal lobes showed similar advancements. The boy would have excellent hearing and sight.

We continued to marvel at the mental capabilities for quite some time, before we were informed that the DNA testing results were in.

"It appears that he has mostly the DNA of a homo sapiens, with strands of panthera pardus appearing to take control of certain genetic traits. This boy is a natural born chimera!" One scientist announced staring at the papers shocked. The rest of us did the same, except for the chancellor. She smiled.

"A more perfect variable I could not have imagined. Have his memory wiped immediately, and give him some clothes. It's time there was a new subject sent up." She ordered.

I awoke in a large metal box, unaware of where I was, dazed, and my mind fuzzy. I reached for my weapon, a silver rod 9 inches long that could unfold into many different weapons on command. Leaving it inactive, I was just beginning to grasp my surroundings when the entire thing lurched upwards with a loud grinding. Gritting my teeth I tried to cover my second set of ears, but found them to be covered by a hat. The thin material was not enough to block out the noise at all, so I grabbed my head and pressed my ears flat against my skull to relieve the screaming metal.

 _Oh what am I doing in such a loud place?_ I whined, _Wait a second… why can't I remember why I'm here? Why can't I remember anything? I only remember…_

I searched for some part of my past that I still knew. _My name, my name is Alex._ I thought triumphantly. Soon though the crushing fear of the unknown kicked in and I huddled in the corner of the elevator room, my hands over my ears, my eyes looking out at the darkness. It was times like this when I was grateful for my eyes. Instead of an inky blackness, I saw things in a dark grey. There were boxes all around me, with other supplies randomly placed throughout the arrangement. I wanted to check it out, but I didn't trust it yet, so for another half hour I just sat there waiting. Nothing happened to me, so I slowly stood up.

 _Ow._ I grunted, _Don't sit on your tail, idiot._

Running a hand over the fur to massage the sore area, I walked over to the nearest box, which was a rectangular one with holes in the side and an annoying noise coming from inside, and pried the lid off. Inside it was a goat with white fur and a ring pierced through her ear. The goat bleated at me and backed away as I reached down to pet it. _Right. Doubt the girl would appreciate a predator type trying to touch it._ A barrel next to it was filled with apples, so I reached in and pulled one out. I sliced it in half with one of my retractable claws and shared it with the goat, who slowly accepted me after 4 more and tons of noise. We chomped quietly under the noise of the elevator, and when I reached to pet it this time, it butt its small head against my hand affectionately.

"I shall call you Ellie." She bleated and I think it didn't sound angry, so yay.

For a minute I lost my fear of the situation now that I had a new friend with me. Twenty minutes this time before anything happened. The box began to slow slightly, and when I looked up I saw the end of the tunnel. I was thrown to the floor at the sudden jolt made when it finally became stagnant.

 _Ow. Again._

Groaning lightly I watched tensely as the roof of the metal container slid open letting in a blinding light. Pulling my hat down over my eyes, I hissed at the sudden change. Scooting back into the corner on my butt, my heart skipped a beat when I heard voices. Without thinking, I maneuvered my tail up the back of my shirt and wrapped it around my torso. Something told me I wasn't supposed to let anyone know about it.

Peering up carefully this time, I let my eyes adjust and found myself surrounded by a bunch of faces.

"I thought they weren't sending anyone else up!"

"Well they did, so let's just deal with the 'why' later."

"So this shuck face is the greenie now? Congrats Thomas."

"Why'd they give him a hat?"

"What's that thing in his pocket?"

"What did he do to our goat?"

"We got a new goat? Nice!"

At the last few comments I looked over and saw Ellie with her front hooves on the edge of the crate, and her long tongue reaching for the barrel of apples. I walked over patting her head, then I turned my attention to the boys above me.

"Where am I?" I said narrowing my eyes at them.

A blonde kid with an accent spoke first, "Leave the questions until you're actually out of there." He turned to a tall boy with dark skin who nodded at two others, who knelt and held their hands down to me. "Well, come on greenie." One smirked. I could tell they didn't think I'd actually be able to jump up to them from the look in their eyes, so I decided to show them otherwise. I shrugged and pet the head of the goat again, before leaping straight up and grabbing the two hands. They lurched forward in surprise and I smirked as they tried to pull me up while not falling in themselves. A few chuckles came from the crowd at the turn of events. I looked down at the resting boys once I was safely out and glanced quickly around. Giant walls surrounded the square of green. Makeshift building were scattered about one side, while a Forrest claimed the other. We were in the very center. I studied the crowd and realized they were all boys, and from what I could tell, I was the tallest. Not by much, but still the tallest. I turned to the boy who'd given the order, assuming him to be the leader.

"So where am I?" I said sharply. "Why don't I remember anything? Who are you guys?"

"Geez, he might just be worse than you were." The blonde said looking at another with brown hair cut short. The boy laughed and nodded.

"We don't know exactly where we are."

"Ok, one out of three answered vaguely with no real information, keep going." I said. Why was I being so snarky? Probably because I was frustrated and confused and my only friend was a goat that I'd met in a giant metal box.

He held up his hands, "Woah there, no need to get all touchy. We'll explain the basics at dinner. You must be hungry right?"

"No." I said. My stomach growled in disagreement, and I glared down at it. "Traitor." I whispered.

He, the boy with the accent, the leader, and one of the guys who'd pulled me out laughed. Everyone else had been chased off, or begun unloading the supplies. When they brought up Ellie, she made a ruckus and started squirming around uncontrollably. The two carrying the box cursed when it fell from their hands, and watched annoyed as the little girl sauntered over to my side bleating and chewing on my pant leg whilst trying to head butt anyone that tried to take her away. We all watched awkwardly before I picked her up and the others started laughing.

"Looks like someone got attached." The Asian who pulled me up said, "Soon you'll have to name her and give her a collar."

"Ellie." I said quickly without thinking. I looked up and blushed in embarrassment when I saw their smirks.

"The lift up here was a long one." I defended myself before putting her down and coughing. "So, um, explanations?- And names too." I demanded quickly.

"Alright alright already." The brown headed boy said. "I'm Thomas, this is Newt, Minho, and Alby." He said first gesturing to himself, then the blonde boy, then the Asian, then the tall black guy. I nodded a hello, but my attention was turned to one of the guys walking over to us from the box.

"It's all unloaded." He said gruffly before glaring daggers at me and walking away. I watched after him a bit intimidated.

"Don't mind that shank. His name is Gally. Not a very sweet and cuddly guy." Minho explained.

"And you greenie? What's your name?" Alby said scowling at me. He didn't look particularly mad, just hard faced.

"Um, Alex." I said a bit unsure. "Yeah." I nodded affirmatively after a while.

"Well, welcome a place we call the glade Alex." He said. "Let's get some dinner. The box came later than it usually does."

"Wait what? Usually does?" I questioned.

"After dinner ya shank." Minho said clapping me on the back and heading off towards this odd building where a bell had just begun to ring out. I bit my tongue and pushed down the rising tide of frustration, following after him. Ellie walked beside me, running into me every now and then. Clumsy little thing.

"Better put her in the barn for now. You can get her afterwards. No pets in the kitchen or Frypan will have a fit." Newt said. I nodded and left the group to follow him to the place where they kept the animals. He opened a pen with other goats in it and I tried to coax her in.

"Go on Ellie, only for an hour or two." She bleated indignantly and I rolled my eyes.

I told Newt to close the gate, then picked her up and set her on the other side. I never felt like such a traitor.

"Go on. Make some friends." I said before walking out.

"What'd you do to get her so bloody attached?"

I winced feeling guilty, "Ah, I may have given her some apples to shut her up…"

He just laughed at me though and shook his head in amusement. "I can see why." He said referring to the whining we could still hear from inside. The guilt left and we walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

Dinner was good. I didn't remember the tastes of anything I'd eaten in the past though, so my standards weren't too high.

"So none of you remember anything either, there's a giant maze outside the walls that changes daily and you are still looking for a way out of, and these creators from W.I.C.K.E.D. are the ones who put us here." I said as a quick summary of the run down they'd given me. "Oh, and there are giant monsters out there called grievers." They'd also told me of the different jobs and rules of the glade.

"To put it simply, yes. It's become a lot more complex recently. Not much is going right nowadays." Minho sighed. Newt and Alby exchanged a glance cautiously. I couldn't blame them for not trusting me right away, especially if everything was going wrong.

"Speaking of which we need to hold a gathering after dinner." Alby stated. The rest nodded and Alby stood to make the announcement. A few others in the room nodded in acknowledgement, including Gally who geared at me again, before resuming their eating. I gulped at the thought of him finding out about my other side. I could tell he probably was just the suspicious and cautious type, but that still didn't help deter the feeling of wanting to draw my weapon.

As we ate, we talked and this young boy who seemed close with Thomas kept making bad jokes that no one but me thought were funny.

"Alright you shanks, dinner is over, go do whatever it is you do at night." Alby announced. People began shuffling out of the kitchen and disappearing around the glade. The group of keepers (and Thomas) however headed to the homestead for the gathering. I started toward the barn to get Ellie, but was stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"Just a moment there greenie. You're going to be needed at the meeting." Newt said leading me in the other direction. I gave him a curious look, but he didn't elaborate so I didn't press.

We entered the room and all eyes turned to me. Suddenly I felt cornered and tried to take a step back, but Alby came up and put a hand on my shoulder pushing me gently to sit on the ground next to Thomas' chair. I still didn't feel any better though.

"Now that everyone's here, we have got a lot to discuss." Newt began, standing in the semicircle of people. "First and foremost, this bloody shank." He said pointing at me. I tensed in surprise wondering what I'd done.

"Is this about Ellie? I didn't mean to make her like me so much! You can milk her if you need to, I'm sorry!" I said panicking.

"Calm down greenie, you can keep the goat." Minho said rolling his eyes. "That's not what we're talking about."

"Oh…" I said getting embarrassed. I pulled the brim of my hat down to cover my face. Thomas pat my shoulder sympathetically, then Newt continued.

"Now we all know that the creators are getting more and more desperate for us to finish the maze. It started with Thomas, Ben, then Theresa, then the grievers out at day, and then the box refusing to go back down, and of course the way Tommy and Minho killed those grievers." He began. Everyone nodded solemnly, but I had no idea what was going on. There were many questions, but I figured they would rather not have any interruptions.

"So if the box doesn't go down, we have no more supplies except for what we make ourselves," he looked directly at me, "And no more greenies." Now I understood more, I wasn't something that was supposed to happen.

"The creators probably think we need more help solving the maze." Gally said annoyed.

"But if that were it, why would they send up more supplies? Even a whole new goat. It'll take a while for her to produce any milk, which means they're giving us more time, which is weird considering how rushed they seemed before." Alby countered.

"I doubt it was planned. There was no warning when the box went back down. I don't think they ever meant to send him in." Thomas said thoughtfully.

"Why aren't we asking this shuck head what he's doing here? He doesn't seem very alarmed at being thrown in. Most people cry and mope around for days. The only exception was Thomas, and everything went to klunk as soon as he got here!" Gally said ending in a roar. All the keepers looked around silently agreeing with the statement. Thomas however was glaring at Gally.

"You've been accusing me of being the enemy ever since I set foot in this place!" He said defiantly.

"Well you've given me plenty of good reasons! You aren't normal Thomas, and you have had way too many lucky incidents!" Gally yelled spitting out the name as he stood up. I could tell things were getting heated as Thomas stood also and they began to face off.

"I'm just trying to get of this place! Just like you've been trying to do for the last TWO YEARS!" He argued back. They stepped closer and closer until they were within hitting range, and something told me that was exactly what was going to happen.

"Oh yeah, like I'm supposed to believe anything you say! Ben said you were one of them, he saw you!"

"Ben was nuts! He got stung, remember?! He's not exactly the most reliable source!" by this point the others were trying to talk them down, but it wasn't helping. The tension was ridiculously high, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood with the threat of danger. I stood and walked towards them holding my hands out in a pleading gesture.

"Hey, please calm down! If we actually talk instead of yelling at each other maybe we can figure it out easier!" I pleaded with them, but they both just turned their rage on me.

"Shut up greenie! You have no right to say anything! You're probably working with them too!" Gally exploded while Thomas just said bitterly, "Sit down Alex!"

They went back to screaming at one another, but honestly my ears were beginning to hurt and I was tired of the constant bickering. I let out a growl and turned my eyes angrily on them latching onto their arms, "WOULD YOU TWO SHUT THE HELL UP!?" I shouted. Thomas looked surprised at my outburst, but Gally was enraged. His fist connected with my jaw and I went falling to the floor. Before I knew it my instincts kicked in. I turned and fell onto all four legs crouching down as I hit the floor, spinning smoothly to face him. My nails thickened and sharpened into my claws making their noticeable appearance, and I watched, ready to pounce. No one was doing anything, not moving, not blinking, not even breathing. Then Gally made the mistake of stepping forward. Quickly, I sprang at him and swatted him across the cheek knocking him to the other side of the room. I let out a feral growl and scraped one hand in a wide arc around my side. Scratches as far apart as my fingers were left in the soft wooden floor. Red clouded my vision, telling me to kill him before he could get up again, but I didn't listen. I only noticed what I was doing when he looked back at me afraid, and I saw the blood running down his cheek.

My eyes widened in horror, and I scrambled to my feet immediately. My hat had been lost in the action and I dove for it, jamming it onto my head. When I saw the looks of shock and fear, I followed my instincts again, and I ran.

I busted open the door and sprinted out of the room, out of the homestead, and eventually out of the glade. I didn't want to go into the maze. I heard what grievers could do. What they did do. But I was more afraid of the gladers than them at the moment and so I left them behind.

I could hear the shouts behind me, I could see Thomas and Minho chasing after me. I didn't stop though. Primal fear told me to keep running. To get as far away from the danger as possible. Don't stop until you're safe. You aren't safe with them. They will hurt you. They will kill you. Run. Run faster.

Other gliders were watching what was happening now, and the closer I got to the wall, the more that came running after me. That only fed the fear more.

Thomas and Minho were gaining slowly. Of course they were, they're runners. Running is what they do. But my adrenaline kept me ahead of them.

Through the wall now. Hard concrete, no more dirt. I flew around a corner and slipped falling to my hands, because I was going too fast. My bones shifted on their own this time, I was running like the animal I was. My hat gone, ripped away by the wind. My tail unfurled from its hiding place, flowing behind me. I was faster now, a lot faster. I turned corners blindly, not knowing where I was going, not caring, not even thinking about it. Claw marks were left in the stone where I turned sharply, and where I skidded to a stop to run back from a dead end. Running. Never stopping, but slowing gradually. My lungs burned, and my endurance was rail thin at this point. Knowing I could no longer go on, I turned another corner and stopped suddenly, tumbling along the ground before getting up and crouching ready to fight.

No one was behind me though. They wouldn't catch up for a while. Six minutes later, I heard the shift of stone far away.

That's why, they'd gone back to avoid being trapped out here. I sighed in relief and collapsed exhausted, my fuel was gone. I lay there, gasping for air like a dying fish, and moving none. Even after it became dark, I lay there. Fear still lurked in my consciousness, but I had rational thought back, and I knew that I had made the biggest mistakes of anyone ever in the history of existence. Now even if I did manage to last the night and go back, they would throw me out again for sure. Then I would be dead.

For the first time since I stepped out of the box, I allowed my emotions to control me. Tears slipped from my eyes at the thought of never knowing who I was, of dying in a place where the only allies I could have had would turn against me as some kind of monster. I was tired of being the monster. For being bullied and attacked because I was faunus. It had always made me sick. I didn't even look up when I heard the clicking and rolling from down the corridor.

 **Heh, you're welcome. I could have gone on forever, but it was getting a bit long so I decided to give you all an emotional cliffhanger instead. Plus it had transitioned to night time so I guess that's a good time to end it right? Thanks for reading!**


End file.
